Chapter Thirteen
Luna let out a tired sigh. When the ruling of Equestria changed hooves and it was her turn to watch over the night things tended to be slow. Rarely did anyone attend the night court to seek her counsel. Her dear sister may have the headache of bickering nobles to deal with, but she was left to face long and boring stretches of nothing most of the time.
Making matters all the more unpleasant was her sister's punishment for involving her student in the matter pertaining to Ulquiorra Cifer. She was accustomed to the relative shunning of the Canterlot population who believed her sister was worth their time -and ignorance- but to be forced to experience the dulness without any sweets to distract herself with went beyond cruel and unusual punishment; it was completely unforgivable! She didn't even get to have any syrup on her pancakes, how did her sister expect her to eat such an abomination against the natural order of things?
The only thing keeping her from going truly mad from sugar withdrawl was her small stash of assorted candies hidden in her chambers to provide her with a small bedtime snack. She'd have to ration them carefully to make it through this week...or find some way to sneak behind her sister's back without her realizing it.
She let out a sigh. Looking around she realized she'd managed to kill another five minutes, but that still left her with several hours before her sister would be waking up and taking over. She had to figure out something she could do to pass the time better.
And just like that a thought came to her mind on what she could do. There was a matter that needed to be addressed and now seemed like as good a time as any. "Go to the royal library and fetch Ulquiorra Cifer," she told one of her shadow guard at the base of the throne's steps.
The guard nodded in understanding and departed from the throne room to carry out his assigned duties, leaving his counterpart behind to fulfill the other duties of guarding Princess Luna should anyone be foolish enough to launch an attack against her.
Woe be to anypony to attempt such a suicide mission.
"Sir."
the presence of the guard entering the library wasn't sufficient to disturb Ulquiorra from his reading. However being addressed directly was another matter. He cast an aside glance out of the corner of his eye to the shadow guard member standing before him. Fortunately the guard seemed observant enough to realize he had his attention at this point.
"Princess Luna requests your presence in the throne room," the guard stated.
"I decline the invitation," Ulquiorra replied simply as he turned the page in the book he was reading. The guard seemed fazed by his statement and left uncertain what to say in response.
"I have my orders to bring you to the throne room, sir," the guard continued.
As he figured. What the guard referred to as a request was more accurately described as a command appearance and not one he had a say in; just as he suspected. Memorizing the page number and the book he placed it back on the shelf before turning and approaching the guard, slipping his hands back into his pockets in the process.
The walk to the throne room was as silent as he'd anticipated, neither party saying a word or so much as clearing their throat. Just a simple walk down the long stretch of hallway before coming to a conclusion at the opened doors of the throne room. At that point the escorting guard took his leave and returned to the steps leading to the throne.
"We art most glad thee could attend, Ulquiorra Cifer, please approach," Luna greeted.
"My presence was commanded. It was not a matter I had any say in," Ulquiorra replied evenly as he stepped closer to the throne, stopping about twenty feet away from the steps that lead up to it. "For what purpose was I ordered to make myself available?"
Straight to the point and short on pleasantries. She could respect that but she still frowned. She needed to proceed with caution on the matter; afterall she wasn't in a competition for bluntness. "There were a number of issues raised by thee's report on Ponyville and the ponies living there. We wish to go over the matter more thoroughly," she explained, "thou seemed...unkind in your opinions. Our sister was displeased by thee's delivery."
To a normal resident of Equestria the news that their Princess was displeased with them would be very upsetting. To Ulquiorra it was nothing and his posture practically broadcast that fact. "As I have explained it is no concern or fault of mine if Princess Celestia finds disfavor with what I have to say. If she was not prepared to be informed that the majority of her subjects are little more than trash then that is her problem and not mine," he replied evenly and collectively.
Luna's frown deepened. Ulquiorra Cifer's report had been delivered in a less than favorable light. But he hadn't referred to anypony as trash. "And informing our sister that her dear student may possess the capacity for murder? Was that truly necessary?"
"Merely an observation. If Twilight Sparkle is truly a prized student then Princess Celestia deserves to know that things may proceed in an unfavorable manner at some point in the future," Ulquiorra replied.
She'd summoned Ulquiorra Cifer to clear up uncertainties about his report and his findings and she was now trying to control her temper as he talked. Things were not progressing well at all. His deadpan delivery and unwavering calmness was just adding to her fury. "How can thee say such about those thou hast met today?" she all but demanded.
"What did you expect? Did you believe that during my time in Ponyville I would experience an epiphany and rethink my existence up to this point? Did you expect me to state that I developed friends and formed bonds with those that reside in the town?" Ulquiorra asked as he slowly began walking forward. "And what of your involvement of Twilight Sparkle? Perhaps you summoned her here for other motives? Did you believe that I would forge a relationship with her? Were you expecting me to find love, settle down and start a family with her or one of the others? The very notion of such a thought is physically repulsive and nauseating in nature," he explained as he stepped closer to the throne.
Luna was angered at the accusations. He was accusing her of going behind her sister's back and using her student -and her friend- to try and further some outrageous agenda. And he was doing such in an unacceptably calm manner as he dared to step closer to her in a deliberately slow manner. Before she could even formulate a response he continued again.
"Back in my dimension I was a murderer, I don't deny that fact. My very existence is connected to the cannibalistic act of devouring thousands of my own kind in order to evolve. Once I became a Vasto Lorde I allowed myself to serve a Shinigami and continued to murder others and threaten much worse to specific targets as I was ordered. Did you and Princess Celestia truly believe simply because I was sentient I was somehow less dangerous than a wild and untamed beast? Did you believe that teaching me a few courtesies and niceness would domesticate me into something like a pet? That being submerged into a town where everyone is nice and welcoming would be sufficient to make me regret my past actions and what I am? Did you expect me to want to become a contributing member of your society immediately because you believe in second chances for even the most heinous?"
"If thou sayest one more word we shalt banish thee to the moon for your impudence!" Luna angrily stated as he came to a stop not ten feet from the steps, her guards now on high alert at his proximity to her.
"Then do so without any further hesitation," Ulquiorra replied without so much as blinking.
Instead it was Luna's turn to blink. His words and his calm delivery left her surprised. He was threatened with the worst punishment imaginable and he was telling her to do just that? "...What?"
"If you truly believe I should be sent to the moon then do so without hesitation. Do not waste time by stating what you will do, simply do it and be done with it," he repeated.
Luna blinked more. Ulquiorra was standing painfully close, staring her down with those empty eyes and daring her to carry out punishment against him for angering her and she was left speechless; a fact he seemed to pick up on as he began speaking yet again.
"There are two reasons to believe you won't banish me to the moon. First and foremost is the fact that I am under Princess Celestia's rule and subject to her orders and determinations. Despite you being her sister she is unlikely to take kindly to you determining the fate of one of her subjects without first consulting her, regardless of the circumstances. Secondly is your own personal involvement in the matter; you went behind your sister's back by bringing Twilight Sparkle here even though you likely had reason to believe you would face consequences for such an overreach of your authority. You obviously believed the ends would justify the means or you would not have done such. If you banish me then you'll be admitting to yourself that your efforts amounted to nothing. You don't seem the type who would cut off your nose to spite your face," he explained.
She could feel her sister's coming migraine trying to branch out over into her head. Her left eye was twitching. Ulquiorra Cifer was truly an unapologetic monster and he freely admitted to that. Worse yet he was accurate in his explanation as to why he wouldn't soon be occupying himself on the surface of the moon. He knew that there was nothing she could do of real significance to silence his unkind statements.
And just like the predator that he was he picked up on her moment of weakness and verbally attacked yet again.
"I am not foolish enough to believe that Princess Celestia will ever trust me to the point where I will be free to travel without her royal guards being posted as my escorts. For either of us to believe a few measures of socially demanded courtesy and a willingness to answer questions would somehow change her mind of me would require a great deal of stupidity."
That was more than Luna could stand. She was accustomed to being looked down upon, mocked and insulted by others -after her time as Nightmare Moon she believed she had deserved it to some extent regardless of what Celestia said- but he was now badmouthing and insulting both her and her sister in her absence. Her wings deployed in a rage as her eyes began to glow bright white as her magical levels climbed.
"BE GONE FROM OUR SIGHT AT ONCE THOU MOST CONTESTABLE CURR!" she bellowed, shaking the throne room in the process.
Ulquiorra for his part realized only too late that he'd crossed that invisible line that constituted going too far. Without warning Princess Luna's reiatsu level shot up to the highest he'd ever seen and it could be felt throughout the area, crushing against his hierro in a suffocating manner. Her booming voice didn't help matters any and it was all quite overwhelming in nature. This was nearly as bad as his first night here when both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia were met together.
He had severely underestimated her. That was the second time he'd made such a mistake, the only question remaining was if this time would prove as fatal as the last time.
"DEPART THIS INSTANT! AND IF WE SEE THEE AGAIN BEFORE OUR SISTER DOTH RISE TO TAKE OVER THE RULE OF THE KINGDOM THOU SHALT FIND THYSELF CONFINED TO THE DUNGEONS!" she bellowed further, the volume and intensity of her voice causing him to slide back several inches. "AND DOTH NOT LET THE ROYAL DOORS SLAM ON THOU'S POSTERIOR ON THE WAY OUT!"
It seemed that he was being spared the possibility of a gruesome death. At least this time around anyway. He decided the best course of action was to heed her actions and take his leave, retreating to the library for the duration of the night.
Luna watched as Ulquiorra Cifer left, turning around and walking out at a calm pace as if he'd just been politely dismissed by her sister. From her point of view it was almost like he was challenging her to strike him when he was exposed, like he was calling her out due to arrogance. But she didn't take the bait, she didn't rise to the occasion and smite him down regardless of what he'd said. Rather she simply took a deep, deep breath and began counting to herself.
For the first time in a long, long time, Ulquiorra had found himself completely overwhelmed by the reiatsu of another. Normally it was the other way around and trash was overwhelmed and nearly crushed by his presence. But this time around in Princess Luna's presence he was the one that was left feeling like trash. As calmly and collectedly as he could he walked out of the throne room upon being dismissed, and found himself leaning against the wall for support at the first corner he turned, panting to catch the breath he'd been denied in the alicorn's presence.
"It would seem necessary to modify my behavior somewhat. I have to assume Princess Luna is considerably stronger than she displayed during that moment of anger," he thought to himself as he finally caught his breath and no longer needed the wall for support. As hard as it was to believe he had to face some unpleasant facts; his pesquisa was wrong. His observation of Princess Luna's reiryoku and reiatsu levels had been inadequate and not revealed the full story. Her wells ran considerably deeper than he could properly gauge. And it was logical to conclude that the same was true for Princess Celestia.
Another observation of his surroundings: in her fury Princess Luna had dismissed him without assigning any guards to escort him back to the library or wherever else he might go. Those that had followed him to the throne room hadn't been given any instructions and instead were left standing in the throne room awaiting orders.
He could chance returning to the throne room to inform her of this fact and potentially calm whatever foul mood had been formed by his observations and bluntness. Or he could simply return to the library on his own and not risk the further fury of Princess Luna by pointing out her own short sightedness.
It only took a glance back in the direction of the throne room for him to decide that discretion was the better option on this night.
Celestia had resigned herself to the fact that she wouldn't be enjoying a restful night's sleep anytime soon. That wondrous little escape from the day-to-day worries and stressful events she was forced to tolerate was something she'd become quite accustomed to experiencing and the sudden lack of it left her disturbed and uneasy; moreso because she knew what the source of the trouble was, namely Ulquiorra's presence. She was aware of far many more details than her sister had been made privy to when she demanded answers. She'd seen everything for herself about what and who he was and what he did, she alone had to battle the mental strains of having such a dangerous being loose in her kingdom and interacting with her subjects. Having not seen the horrors of Hueco Mundo directly Luna had assumed she was overreacting and gone behind her back to involve Twilight in the matter. Even after she'd taken the step of informing her sister about some of the more unpleasant details she'd seen her sister had still been optimistic. From there it had been damage control in an attempt to keep all parties involved from crashing and burning. It was a delicate balancing act to maintain and very mentally straining.
That said it was surprising to see Luna present for their morning meal looking about as haggard as she herself felt. There were no pleasantries exchanged at the table, no greetings as she made her appearance, nothing of the usual. Most of her communication had been little more than grunts inbetween passive-aggressive bites to her food. It was all very...un-Luna-like, and it had her concerned.
And after an extended period of this Celestia couldn't take it any longer and had to speak up. "Luna? I can tell that something's wrong. However I have no idea what it might be that's troubling you. Do you feel like sharing?" she asked.
"No," Luna replied as she attacked a slice of toast.
Celestia frowned. Usually Luna preferred to give a longer response like "we doth not feel like it" or something along those lines. The one word answers were definitely out of the usual for her. She decided to press on. "As I said Luna I know that something's wrong. All I want to do is help you, but if you insist on being difficult then I feel the need to remind you that I'm intimately familiar with each and every one of your most ticklish spots as well," she said as her wings flared briefly to reinforce the threat, just as Luna had done to her a few days prior.
Despite herself Luna let out an amused snort at her sister's warning, the irony not lost on her. "Very well, dear sister, we shall share," she replied before dabbing the corners of her mouth with a napkin. "Thee were most right when thou warned of Ulquiorra Cifer's nature. We found out last night that he can be quite cruel and merciless. He informed us that he considered our subjects to be no better than rubbish. He made no apologies for his allusion to Twilight Sparkle being of a murderous nature. Then he dared to go further and suggested we summoned Twilight Sparkle for less than honorable reasons that we will not even discuss. And then he didst dare to suggest that we are both stupid in nature!"
Celestia sat silently as Luna explained the situation to her, listening as her sister informed her of what she'd missed out on during the night. From the sound of it Luna had sought to clarify points raised during that tedious briefing from yesterday and had gotten far more than she bargained for. All in all she really wasn't surprised to hear it all. However before she could tell her sister her thoughts she began speaking again.
"Beyond being supremely rude Ulquiorra Cifer is unforgivably cold and merciless at calculating. During one of our less than stellar moments we threatened to banish him to the moon for his insolence and instead of cowering he didst dare us to do so. And when we hesitated he explained how he knew that we wouldst not do such a thing," she stated and let out a long sigh. "We hath never been so infuriated before by one subject," she finished and hung her head, using her hooves to pinch the bridge of her nose.
"Ah, so that's what last night's commotion was about," Celestia commented. She knew she could feel -and hear- something going on during the evening, disturbing what little sleep she had been able to get. She'd let that pass for now though, there were more important matters at hoof. "So you're seeing that our guest isn't exactly the best of company simply because of his nocturnal nature."
"Doth not jest with us right now, dear sister, we art most displeased with Ulquiorra Cifer's lack of respect for royalty and his absence of manners. What he said was most uncalled for. To suggest that Twilight Sparkle is...that we would...that..." Luna was unable to properly articulate her frustration and settled instead for a loud groan.
From where she sat Celestia extended a wing and patted Luna on the back. She could understand her sister's frustrations with Ulquiorra and his nature. He was far, far different from the many centuries of gratitude and worship that their little ponies treated them with. Whether that was a good thing or not she really didn't know just yet.
"Is there not something we can do to quell that uncouth mouth of his? Some ancient rule that we might cite about proper manners regarding royalty?" Luna asked hopefully after a long pause to gather her thoughts.
"Luna dear you know that I don't care for such heavy-hooved tactics. Simply because we don't like what he has to say is no reason to punish him for saying it," Celestia pointed out calmly as she continued stroking her sister's back. "A lot of things have happened since you were gone. During your absence the fields of science and theoretical thought gained much ground and a growing number of ponies insist that the sun rises and sets without my involvement at all. However I don't deny them their opinions nor do I desire to punish them for the content of their message. If I silenced all speech that I didn't care for it would appear that I have something to hide and we would be swamped with thousands conspiracy theories. Ulquiorra already views me unfavorably but that's his right. He's under no obligation to show some predetermined level of courtesy towards us and I'd rather not do something to reinforce his negative view," she explained.
"But after what he didst dare say about Twilight Sparkle, and why we involved her directly-" Luna started, only to be gently silence by Celestia.
"You know better than anypony about the matter and how we rule," Celestia pointed out.
Luna sighed as defeat slowly sunk in, hanging her head in recognition of the fact that there was nothing she could say on the matter. She would unfortunately have to let the matter drop and simply go back to eating her meal in silence.
Unfortunately that didn't happen as before she could even begin her next bite one of the servants came bursting through the main doors into the dining hall. "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" the pegasus maid called frantically, galloping over to the table and nearly crashing into it before she could properly stop.
"My little pony, what's wrong?" Celestia asked as she rose from her seat. Very rarely did she ever see one of the servants react with such a fright.
"Great trouble is brewing, your Majesty!" the maid stated quickly and bowed while struggling to catch her breath. "As I was tending to my duties in the throne room I chanced a look out the window by the balcony and saw great billowing pillars of smoke rising from the mountains in the east! I fear that a dragon may have nested in the area!"
Well now that certainly explained a few things. Nodding her understanding Celestia stood up from the table and began to walk toward the throne room to see for herself. A dragon this far into her territory could definitely be a problem, especially if it was nesting and making ready for a particularly long hibernation. Whatever the matter was it would have to be addressed and quickly.
Two things came to Celestia's attention as she entered the throne room, followed by the terrified maid and her sister. First and foremost the maid hadn't been exaggerating about the amount of smoke coming from the mountain region. It was indeed great billowing pillars of some of the thickest black smoke she could remember seeing in recent history, thick like an oil fire and viscous enough to block out her own sun if allowed to fester.
Secondly to come to her attention was the fact that Ulquiorra was already at the balcony and observing the smoke rise into the sky, his posture unchanged from the last time she'd seen him. She briefly wondered if that was his default posture but disregarded it as she stepped closer.
"It would seem a situation has arisen," he said simply, not even turning around to look at her as she approached. Whether it was due to his detection abilities or the sound of her hooves against the hard marble floor she didn't know, nor did she really care right now.
Stepping out onto the balcony next to him she surveyed the horizon more closely, a feeling of deja vu coming over her as she did. It had only been a little over two years ago that this situation had played out once before. And that hadn't even been the first time either. How many times had dragons attempted to nest in those mountains during her time? How often had she needed to have them chased out of there?
"It would seem you're right," Celestia replied and nodded. "It looks like a dragon has taken up residence in the mountains to the east and settling in for a rather long nap in some cave."
"Is it a threat?" Ulquiorra asked.
"In a way," Celestia replied as she turned her attention away from the smoke and to him. "Dragons have exceptionally long lifetimes, many of the ones who were around before Luna was banished are still alive today. It's not uncommon for dragons to spend a full century hibernating and when they do they breathe out huge amounts of thick smoke. If uninterrupted the accumulating smoke can blanket the sky and blot out the sun for entire areas," she explained.
"Eternal night as it were," Luna added as she stepped closer, her attention more on the horizon than the Hollow. "We do not know what Hueco Mundo is like but the plants in Equestria cannot survive without sunlight. Massive deforestation cannot be ruled out. And that is to say nothing of the short term health effects that wouldst be had from our subjects having to breathe such a polluted atmosphere."
Ulquiorra stood silent in the face of the new information. Without a word he grasped the hilt of his zanpakutō and partially unsheathed it.
"Whatever dost thou intend to do?" Luna asked as she watched in curiosity -and disbelief- as Ulquiorra ran his left pointer finger along the edge of his sword and drew blood before resheathing it.
"There are two things forbidden in Las Noches. One is that any Espada ranked Cuatro or higher releasing their zanpakutō within the fortress. The other is the discharge of the Gran Rey Cero technique. Both of which are so powerful they could destroy Las Noches," Ulquiorra explained calmly as he extended his left arm toward the east. "That said we are no longer in Las Noches. Even at this distance I don't believe it should take more than one Gran Rey Cero to completely destroy the specific cave and kill the dragon within."
In truth he was mildly curious about his own Gran Rey Cero, having never had the opportunity to use it before. He had dutifully obeyed the rules of Las Noches even during his battle with Ichigo Kurosaki. And once he was above the dome he'd gone with releasing his zanpakutō and utilizing his Cero Oscuras, the superior of the two advanced Cero techniques and exclusive to him and him alone. This would be a new experience for him.
They watched as a violet sphere of pure and unstable energy formed at the tip of his finger, gathering intensity and arching wildly and unpredictably. Both Celestia and Luna could tell that whatever this was, this "Gran Rey Cero" as he referred to it, there was a great deal of destructive power behind it. If it were to actually hit something...
Immediately a sphere of golden energy completely enveloped Ulquiorra's hand and the forming Cero. Glancing over he saw it was the work of Princess Celestia's magic. If he were to discharge his Cero now the resulting explosion would most likely disintegrate his hand and a good portion of his arm as well. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked calmly.
"Ulquiorra," Celestia spoke calmly, "I can understand that things were done differently in Hueco Mundo. But here in Equestria we don't simply kill something just because it might prove itself to be a potential threat. We try and resolve whatever situation arises in a peaceful manner to avoid a loss of life regardless of who or what it is. In the past we've had success persuading dragons to leave the area under peaceful terms, there's no reason to believe this time will be any different."
Such foolishness on her part. Did Princess Celestia truly believe such nonsense? He could feel himself glaring at her. Her words could not truly be believed.
"I don't share your views. You have already confirmed that the dragon's presence is a threat not only to the health but the lives of countless thousands of your subjects. And you still choose to maintain the optimistic view that you can talk the situation out?" Ulquiorra asked bluntly. He could feel Princess Luna's anger induced flaring of reiatsu coming but his attention was focused on Princess Celestia as he awaited an explanation.
"Do you remember your meeting with Fluttershy yesterday?" she asked calmly. "She was the one who made the last dragon leave and find somewhere else to settle down for its long nap," she explained.
Now he was most curious. Fluttershy? The butter yellow pegasus who was terrified of him until he called her out on her fear had somehow forced a carnivorous predator out of its established home? Not through use of the Elements of Harmony but rather through her own effort? It was preposterous in nature. How could something like that even be the case?
And yet Princess Celestia was looking at him in all seriousness. There were no visible signs that she was perhaps joking in the matter. Her posture and facial features were consistent with her telling him everything else that had been truthful up to this point.
"When you assigned me the purpose of learning about friendship I considered it to be foolish in nature," Ulquiorra stated. "I failed to see how such the study of such a vague and intangible concept could amount to anything resembling a true purpose. I would have disregarded it on the spot if you were not stronger than I," he explained evenly as he turned his focus away from Princess Celestia and back out toward the pillars of smoke. Celestia said nothing but her attention was drawn to the cero inside the sphere as it began to dissipate. "However even though I consider your assigned duty to be absurd I will still fulfill it dutifully until such time that you command otherwise."
Celestia blinked. That was...very off topic from the original discussion. However before she could comment he began speaking again.
"That said I request the opportunity to observe how the concept of "friendship" can resolve this matter. If the pegasus Fluttershy is truly able to make the dragon leave of its own volition without the use of violence then it is something that needs to be properly studied and understood."
It sounded almost like something her student Twilight would say, even if the delivery was considerably different. First he'd informed her that he considered her absurd and then he'd asked to actually see her beliefs in action. Right now she really wanted to chuckle despite it all.
"And why shouldst thee be allowed to do such after the disrespect thou hast displayed towards us and our sister?" Luna all but demanded.
Ulquiorra slowly turned around as far as he could to address her directly, his left hand still held securely by Princess Celestia's magic. "I have just been informed that a serious threat resides to the east of Canterlot and the appropriate response is to send Fluttershy to speak to it. You can understand my skepticism with trusting the safety of the kingdom to a pony who can barely speak above a whisper under the best of circumstances," he explained evenly. "It was a matter of friendship that lead to your being freed from the hold of Nightmare Moon. This was among the many things you yourself made me aware of during our first night of conversation. If I'm to believe this concept of "friendship" has any merit then I must see it for myself and witness what it can truly do."
Celestia and Luna remained silent as they contemplated the position they found themselves in, and it was indeed a difficult one. What exactly was the proper answer to give in a situation like this?
"If we did let you observe the operation what guarantee do we have that you wouldn't rebel and attempt to kill the dragon instead of letting Fluttershy and her friends try and persuade it to leave peacefully?" Celestia asked. Loyalty or not she had her concerns. Just a minute ago he'd planned to fire his "gran rey cero" to try and not only kill but bury the dragon in a single shot.
Without even thinking on the matter Ulquiorra began speaking again. "The same guarantee I have that you won't banish me to the moon should I displease you. Ultimately we have nothing more than the word of the other to go on and no reason to trust the other based on their words alone. We are at an impasse," he explained.
During their short time together Celestia had been made aware on multiple times that Ulquiorra was quite intelligent, highly observant...and as much as she hated to admit it he was quite right in this situation. Other than reliance on the honor system what did each of them have to believe the other wouldn't do something unsavory at some point down the line? This situation was the proverbial meeting of the irresistible force and the immovable object. This was going to require a great deal of her wisdom to arrive at the proper decision.
The question facing her right now though was whether or not she could make the proper decision and keep everything in proper balance. Should she show Ulquiorra a measure of trust and allow him to observe her little ponies in action? Or should she deny his request and keep him here? And if she did, how she she ensure he didn't disregard orders and go anyway? Just a moment ago he tried to kill the dragon for being a threat. Granted she could understand why he'd do something like that, but how did she prevent a similar incident from occurring? She couldn't watch him the entire day and she couldn't ask Luna to stay up and watch him until after the dragon had left.
If she allowed him to watch as Fluttershy did what few other ponies could do it might truly help him better understand friendship and motivate him to commit himself fully to the subject rather than just going through the motions. But it was equally likely that if she allowed this outing he would choose to kill the dragon on the grounds of it being a threat to Equestria. Once again she could feel that persistent sensation of a migraine trying to form.
Some days it simply didn't pay to be a princess.
KILL IT!!! KILL THE DRAGON!!! I NEED to have Ulquiorra kill this dragon like the trash it is with his Gran Rey Cero I NEED it.......pls
Celestia is gonna eventually overdose from all the pain killers she's been taking to solve those mindgrains. XD
Still dont know what a gran ray cero looks like so thats upsetting..... Oh well! I believe celeria will let him go with the mane 6 and deal with this dragon!
3026331
Nobody said being a princess was easy.
3026338
Exactly.
Though this is something from a different plain of existence making her daily life a living hell.
Tell me, if you were the leader of a country would you expect to be in control of an extraterrestrial from another universe that you cannot kill based on your own morals?
I'd shoot my morals in the face and just off the dude. XD
Hehehe, no fucks given from this arrancar...
No. Bad 3026274. Sit.
...
In regards to what I've just read:
No matter what Celestia does, her peers will still find ways to accuse her of faults. It really doesn't pay to be a focus of attention.
Please, tell me we are finally going to see him beat the living shit out of something.
Alright, time for my first comment.... hmmm. I got nothing.
Get used to it princess your in for the long haul
Ulqy is as awesome as ever so can't wait to see whats next!
my theory is that he will be allowed to watch but not be seen and will only intervene in a massive danger situation... which will occur indefinitely
Is it so bad that I want to see the dragon ignore Fluttershy's stare? Considering that it's, y'know, a reptile over fifty times her length and weight, with talons and fangs large enough to shred her with a casual flick, and a breath weapon?
Aww, I wanted to see him kill the dragon.
ugh i fucking hate it when the author of any anime cross over make the princesses seem like powerful gods they're NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You know what's Ulquiorra's problem? He always thinks in the fucking negative and seems to assume that everyone is evil on the inside. The guy's supposed to nihilistic, not pessimistic.
For the love of god, let him use his Cero against that dragon. Also, I think you're really underestimating how strong Ulquiorra is when compared to Celestia and Luna.
3026402*whimper*......Ok...
My solution would be to send the Mane Six with Ulquiorra in tow to try (keyword try) to talk the dragon away, and when the peace negations fail then have him vaporize the dragon.
3026742 Yeah, he's atleast as strong as them.
scifiideas.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/murder1.jpg
That is all.
Gah, Ulqy just got B!tch slapped by Luna. As for the coming encounter, I'd say that Tia will send him with the Girls with orders to not interfere on pain of something. The negotiations go south, Twilight has to convince Ulqy to help, and he lays the smack down on the dragon....or at least that's how it should go from the perspective of us fanboys! Well, however you decide to set up the next chapter, it will still be awesome. I can't wait to see if he makes any kind of connection between Flutters and Orohime.
Below you will find a much smaller than usual amount of typos, I'd say your getting better at catching yourself on these.
*serve a Shinigami and continue to murder - serve a Shinigami and continued to murder
*herself about what and what he was and - herself about what and who he was and
*"Ah so that's what last night's - "Ah, so that's what last night's
*failed to see how such the study of a vague - failed to see how the study of such a vague
*did how she she ensure he - did, how was she to ensure he
Daaaang, Luna is *snort* ROYALLY pissed off!! MOHAHA!!!
3027172 In his second release, yes. But normally Ulquoirra is at least a bit weaker than them.
3026659 That's why it's called fanfiction, buddy.
3026500
No.
But you're going to get to read about it and even hear the awesomeness of it.
3026659
So far the only canon indication we have of Celestia not being as powerful as some believe is her duel with Chrysalis. A duel surrounded by innocent bystanders who could've potentially been hurt had Celestia really cranked up the juice on her sun beam during the duel. My theory is that she had to restrain herself for their own safety.
3026670
It's pretty damn tough to portray nihilistic accurately while finding motivation to have him interacting with the ponies. Nihilism is a belief that nothing matters because nothing exists, right? If Ulquiorra is the truest sense of nihilism then he'd have no reason to venture beyond the palace walls and the story would've stopped after the first couple of chapters.
3026670
That's a good thing. Pessimist live longer than optimist according to science because they're realistic.
3027653 Yeah, but he always talks about the bad that people can do. Isn't he interested in the good?
3027659
Well the conversation with Luna was inspired by 2594539 and his comment about hoping the story didn't become a romance like Cuatro did. I felt that idea was worth exploring and addressing but the timing had to be right. And it is a very good point, pairing any one of the ponies with Ulquiorra as is, is just plain wrong.
And it was a bit of fun to poke at the notion of good tolerating and integrating evil in the name of friendship and evil reciprocating. And who better to point out the lack of logistics with such a notion than Ulquiorra who waited for Orihime's presence before proceeding to blow Ichigo's chest out with his cero oscuras?
Reformation will be coming. Eventually.
3027024
I was thinking the same thing... simple really.
Cool chaptah, cool chaptah.
Im hearing the Sovngarde Song so sorry if the comment is lacking in any actual constructive criticism.
On the host of battleworn ears it does fall
Pushing out through the thunder and rain....
If Fluttershy for whatever reason tries to use the stare on Ulquiorra it will fail
I want to see Ulqui obliterate a dragon with cero, preferably in the case of stopping and repelling the dragon's fire breath
3026659 my thoughts exactly, while Celestia controls the sun, I've never actually seen her do anything in the show. The one time she tried to she got beat by a bug.
3027876 I love that song so much!
But my voice is my violence
Clear the skies, frozen tears
Miracle of sound is a miracle!
3028302 atleast someone has a brain seriously its like saying that celestia can kill master chief which she couldnt do in a million years so just gonna downvote this story....
3027653if celestia is really powerful why is it that she always get the mane six to do her dirty work everytime a villian comes and its to a point that relies to much on the EOH......One Good Cero To any Elements and Boom..Celestia Is powerless..
3028336 Then we wouldn't have a show.
3026659 On top of what 3027653 has said, which the possibility of Celestia limiting her power for the safety of her subjects, the scene with the battle with Chrysalis actually says nothing about Celestia's power level. The battle is one locked between two characters who do not have defined levels of power and only affect those two. Chrysalis is greatly enhanced from feeding off of Shining Armor's love for Cadance, to a point that was unexpected even by Chrysalis. For all we know the compressed beams could have enough energy to cut through multiple dragons if they were lined up, but only have the power to singe Celestia horn and cause a temporary lost of conscience. Shinning Armor and Cadance's victory over Chrysalis says nothing either, for two reasons: The first being that it wasn't a magic power vs magic power affair. It was a shield that pushed her out, which she didn't try to counteract due to being shocked it was actually happening. As an example: If you have a gun and another person is unarmed, if you don't expect them to push you down, even though you have the stronger weapon they can win the battle, especially when you are too shocked to react to their attack. Furthermore there has been speculation that Shinning Armor's boost to Chrysalis was largely used in her duel with Celestia, so by Shinning Armor and Cadance's part, she could have been much weaker at that time anyway (which ultimately doesn't change anything since as I said, she was shocked and as she was shocked, she didn't react fast enough to really challenge their power with her own).
That last theory is somewhat supported if you take the offical MLP comic's as canon, as if Chrysalis was as strong as Celestia was she wouldn't have desired Twilight Sparkle's power. Furthermore, Chrysalis, after having taken a hit that destroyed the stone walls behind her was completely unaffected. This means that Chrysalis' body is able to take more than it first appears, and since that Chrysalis was weaker than the one who fought Celestia, who was only slightly weaker than fully love infused Chrysalis, it is even more possible for Celestia to have a body that is stronger than it appears.
On the other hand, for signs of Celestia's power, the first is raising the sun. Though unicorns before could, it was only as a group. We must consider however the following fact: Twilight's encounter with the Ursa Minor. Though Twilight has improved since then, even at that time she was seen as the most powerful unicorn in Ponyville at that time, even if she wasn't at her fullest potential. The strain for Twilight's performance, though increased by her doing more than simply picking up the Ursa, makes it clear to me that it is doubtful that she could have lifted an Ursa Major for instance which is still much much smaller than the Sun. Even assuming that the way of moving the sun is many times more efficient than telekinesis, I think it would be absurd to say that even three or four dozen Twilight Sparkles could have done so, and I don't even know how to estimate how many average unicorn's it would take to do such a feat.
Adding to her feats, is her easily dispelling a mass mind control spell(want it need it spell) on an entire population instantly, where Twilight Sparkle had been only trying to dispel the doll, telling us that Twilight could not have simply dispelled everything en masse. She also has the, for lack of a better term, "Celestial" realm in which Twilight entered in Magical Mystery Cure. A divine realm if I ever saw one, and one that she can free enter for all intents and purposes. Furthermore in that realm it is revealed that she could see every act Twilight Sparkle had done, even though she wasn't there, through that screen magic. Since it is absurd to assume that it is somehow only limited to watching Twilight Sparkle, that means that she has the potential to be able to see the past of any one of her subjects. She also stopped a magical surge that multiple teachers of a school about magic weren't able to counteract, with supreme ease.
On Luna, well she can dream walk (an ability that we have not seen anyone else capable off), her annoyed stomps causes the ground to crack, and she casually creates storms when she is gets emotional (which seems like something she does subconsciously, not even emotionally). Furthermore, Lauren Faust had stated that when Luna returned as Nightmare Moon in the pilot episode she banished Celestia to the sun. If you take Word of Faust seriously (which I usually take with a grain of salt since she doesn't work on the show anymore) that would mean that the ability to banish things to the sun and moon are actually not related only to the elements of Harmony.
In conclusion, Celestia and Luna are not omnipotent by any means, they are certainly very very powerful, and they have not had their upper limits shown in a clear enough manner to say just how powerful they are.
3028598
Damn! You just eliminated half of the response I was getting prepared to give and blew past what I was going to say. Awesome work.
3028336
Well BE already answered the first part of the question and a lot better than I could. As to why Princess Celestia has Twilight and her friends do the dirty work, where would the show be otherwise? The show's theme is about friendship, not a higher authority coming and swooping in to save the day just because things get tough. If Celestia is like a parent then she's teaching her subjects/children to stand on their own and how to be responsible for themselves, and entering into the fray only when necessary to prevent a massive disaster.
It's a good question though. If I keep getting good questions I may just do an HiE Omake series to address everything and let the characters explain why things are proceeding in a specific manner.
3028598
Very good... very good.
31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxpfttmPEq1rn95k2o1_400.gif
I do believe you meant unstoppable force.
Besides that error, this chapter was amazing, really enjoyed it, keep up the good work and we all will love this story.
I am a bad person.
I want Fluttershy to lose control of the situation, and since the mane six are probably going to accompany her I want Twilight to put up a shield spell to ward off the dragon's fire breath as the ponies moan over how hopeless the situation is, while Ulquiorra who's probably standing in the fire simply asks if he can kill the dragon, or at least beat it silly - not with that wording, but still....
edit: Before reading this post I recommend you read my other post a few posts above this (post number 653) if you haven't already
3028336
That logic is unsound. The elements of Harmony are the most powerful things in the universe. Celestia doesn't have to be more powerful than them to be as powerful as she is portrayed here.
Nightmare Moon was Luna twisted and empowered by Nightmare. Even if you don't believe the she was empowered by the nightmare transformation , normal Luna is probably around the same level as Celestia, and Celestia unlike Nightmare Moon had no drive for revenge and had mental block over fighting her sister. Furthermore, she had manipulated events in favour of Twilight getting the elements of Harmony (she said that she knew Twilight could do it at the end, meaning she had manipulated events so that Nightmare moon could be defeated). Therefore beings of near equal power where Celestia was loath to do battle with the enemy, and had a plan to defeat without having to fight her. So why fight? The amount of manipulation of events for Celestia to orchestrate this in a way that she could confidently say that she knew Twilight could do it is in itself impressive.
She found 5 likely Candidates for the other elements of harmony in the town closest to where the elements of harmony were (made more realistic by the fact I mentioned in my last post with her being able to potentially see the pasts of any of her subjects), put them in positions of importance for the Summer Sun Celebration, than put Twilight Sparkle in charge of the Summer Sun celebration (so she can interact with them), while telling her to make friends (so that the idea of friendship is in Twilight's mind as they meet). All without anyone knowing she had a hand in that. At minimum.
Now if Nightmare Moon was evil, and powerful you might ask why she didn't kill the mane 6. It is not because she couldn't, but because she didn't want to. Evil doesn't mean kill everything that gets in your way. Nightmare Moon had two major motivations: To get ponies to love her night, and to get ponies to love her. She had no desire to kill her subjects, and instead simply wanted to prevent them from getting to the elements. There are better ways she could have done it, but causing a ledge to fall, a manticore to attack, a sea serpent to panic and make the river unable to be crossed, putting an illusion on trees to scare the ponies away, and to try to tempt one of them with their dream being fulfilled, would have driven off most things, and she underestimated her enemies. It could be explained that she didn't just trap them randomly in the forest because she knew the forest was dangerous, if she trapped them somewhere she would be leaving them to the possibility of being attacked and killed/ turned to stone, by monsters, which, as Ruler of Equestria, she wouldn't allow, even if it was ponies who displeased her with their current actions against her.
Celestia of course, knowing Nightmare Moon's motivations also knew that the Nightmare wouldn't kill her subjects.
So ultimately that is why she didn't interfere with Nightmare Moon, not because she couldn't defeat her (the fight would have the potential to go either way) but because simply beating her sister wasn't the way to truly help Luna become herself again, and she already had a plan to save Luna in full that she had set in place.
Discord: This is ultimately not a fair comparison. Discord could snap his finger and take a ponies horn and wings. AKA: He can snap his fingers and take of your limbs without anything you can do about it. Furthermore, he can warp and twist land, make places float, split into multiple discords, and only has his physical form in order to interact with the world (remember, he was able to appear in a stain glass painting, and make his head into a balloon, both showing that he doesn't actually need a functioning body or organs to live). He can twist minds into whatever he wants, not just invert them, an example being making Big Mac act like a dog. You could disintegrate discord and scatter his ashes across the universe and when you turn around, there would be a group of him holding up scoreboards marking your performance. Celestia is powerful, and has the possibility of being compared to a polythestic god, such as the greek or roman gods, but Discord is out of the range of power any member of a polythestic pantheon could handle. Discord is the power that is equal and opposite to a monothestic god. The elements of Harmony can match him, but they can only encase him in stone and nullify his power, and not permanently at that. He is, as the spirit of disharmony, the opposing force to the elements of Harmony. Nothing at all but the elements could stop him. Even then she outplayed Discord by predicting his victory in the first half and sending the letters to Twilight to undo his magic on her.
By all apperances you must even agree that Discord is that powerful because you found no reason to condemn the fic over the fact that he crossed over dimensions, found a dead soul, brought it back to life and into Equestria in this fanfic, while you find reason to downvote (cited here 3028322 ) the story based on power they gave Celestia.
Chrysalis, I had already explained in my earlier post how that fight shows nothing of Celestia's power. Furthermore it was not the mane six that handled the threat anyway. This also actually works against your argument because Celestia's reaction wasn't to ask the Twilight to get the elements of Harmony, it was her second reaction after she failed to defeat Chrysalis. She doesn't always get the Elements of Harmony to do her "dirty work", as she just clearly tried to fight the enemy without calling upon the mane six first. If she saw herself as weak she wouldn't have tried to fight Chrysalis anyway (A fight she almost won I remind you, and would have if Chrysalis hadn't had a tremendous power boost before hand). Chrysalis also found it as an accomplishment to have defeated Celestia. You don't find defeating a weak being in a magical confrontation an accomplishment.
Sombra Celestia gave Twilight to deal with as a test. Not as a "You must gather the elements of Harmony to defeat Sombra" but a "To advance your studies prove your ability by taking down this evil Tyrant." Celestia and Luna was shown in the flashback to have defeated him without the elements with ease. Heck, Celestia didn't even make Twilight take the Elements of Harmony since they weren't needed. I am confident that if Twilight failed, Celestia and Luna would simply had bailed her out, it wouldn't make sense to send her on such a dangerous mission as a test and deny her Luna's help if they couldn't save her.
The only other "antagonistic" force who she gave the mane six the task to handle was the sleeping dragon. Think of it this way: Dragons as it is seen in the episode Dragon Quest, see ponies as inferior (at the very least the teenage dragon's do). If the ruler of the land had to deal with every random dragon by herself, that just reinforces that thought. By sending others she shows that ponies even without her, could stand up to dragons. Furthermore, as Celestia isn't omnipotent she needs her ponies able to take care of themselves, when she is either defeated or otherwise occupied. If she took care of every minor threat that entered Equestria then when a major event occurs the ponies wouldn't be use to dealing with bad things and would panic. Heck as it is a stampede of bunnies cause panic with the average pony.
You also have to remember that Celestia had dealt with Discord and Nightmare Moon in the past without Twilight and friends helping her (though she had Luna and EoH when against Discord). She fought Sombra to.
We barely know anything about Equestrian History as well, but that said, with the amount of activity that happened before and at the time of Luna's banishment, and the activity that has happened since she returned, I highly doubt the thousand years in between had nothing major happen. There were probably other problems that she had to deal with then, without Luna, the EoH, or the mane six. Some of those events over that thousand years since Luna was banished were probably the equivalent in danger to anything the mane six went through besides Discord. I cannot prove that such events happened, but I sure as hell don't think that Equestia somehow got more peaceful right after it was weakened by having one of its diarch's banished to the moon. If anything enemies would take that time to strike.
In conclusion, just because Celestia is less powerful than Discord and the elements of Harmony (the items, not the ponies who use them) doesn't mean that she is weak, and she didn't interfere with Nightmare Moon because she didn't want to simply beat her by brute force but to purify her.
I can understand bringing up concerns about something, but when you say things like
When someone agrees with you, you imply those that disagree with your point of view on this manner are brainless, idiots. That is an immature reaction, and one that injures your standing in a logical debate rather than reinforce it. I would ask you to please put thought and care into your replies, and not dismiss people as idiots just because they have an opposing viewpoint.
3030581
DAMN!
I might just have to reference this in some future chapters.
3030014
That's assuming Ulquiorra's reiatsu isn't so overwhelming the dragon's fire is parted by it much like Ichigo's GT was after his release.
3030701
Feel free to reference anything you like and thank you for writing this story.
Man, princess Celery and Lumberjack really need to just relax and let ole Ulqy handle the situation for a bit.
im done with this i swear im losing faith in cross over stories
3031546
One issue that's been hinted at since the beginning of the story but not explored in depth is the matter of reishi and mana being similar in nature but not 100% similar. Simply because Ulquiorra can survive on mana doesn't mean his body was properly reconfigured for it when Discord brought him to their world. Any weakness on Ulquiorra's part could be read as him having not fully adapted to his new environment yet since it's only been three days in story time.
In a way it's like stories where humans find themselves living in Equestria and suddenly having to switch from a meat-based diet to an all fruit and vegetable diet. You can survive but your body is still going to crave meat and the proteins it's used to, even if you get protein rich substitutes it's still not that juicy steak you took for granted.
Another way to look at it is a parallel between a good diet and a diet based heavily on junk food. Junk food might keep you alive but that doesn't mean it's the best choice available and the differences between the two are going to be noticeable in term of a finished product.
And by the time Ulquiorra had his faithful meeting with Luna he hadn't eaten a real meal in over 24 hours. Just because he's not starving and ravenous doesn't mean he's properly fed.
There's also the fact that I said mana was of greater density than reishi, not that it was anymore nutritious as a result. Ponies only need mana for using magic to various degrees, not as a direct food source. Ulquiorra is basically subsiding on something that was never fully intended to serve such a role.
There seem to be a lot of naysayers here so I'll say this. I love this story, it's done very well. Ulquorria is not falling to friendship immediately, living so long the way he has, has made any realistic change difficult, and his view and the pony's views will inevitably clash. Regarding the bunches of people saying how strong Ulquorria is and how he should kill something, come on guys. Discord is unstoppable. He can turn his head into a balloon, transform anything into anything except harmony instantly. Nothing can touch that guy except harmony. If he's that strong who's to say others are not of considerable strength? And if friendship is literally magic, Celestia should have ridiculous amounts of magic collected over the years.
Keep up the good work author. Your work is a very good read
3028322 While I agree with your thoughts i still find it interesting when she is conveyed as a deity.